The Third Date
by Mystery Hunter
Summary: -Fortune Cookie Friday prompt from Chit Chat on Author's corner - Forewarned is forearmed- "It's also the day of yours and Morgan's third date. And considering who Morgan is, I'm guessing he's going by tradition." -SLASH-


"_Gravity. It keeps you rooted to the ground. In space, there's not any gravity. You just kind of leave your feet and go floating around. Is that what being in love is like?"_

_Josh Bran and John Falsey_

Reid leaned against JJ's desk as they talked about how Henry was doing. During a pause where JJ had to type something into her computer and Reid took a sip of coffee JJ suddenly remembered the date. "Oh," she said suddenly, looking up at the genius. "It's Friday." Reid nodded. "Yeah," he replied. "Did you know that Friday in most romantic languages comes from the Latin word _dies Veneris, _the day of Venus? And in Islam, Friday is the day of worship in mosques-"

"It's also the date of yours and Morgan's third date." Reid blinked once, thrown off track. "Um-" JJ laughed. "For once the genius is speechless!" Reid frowned slightly, not happy at being caught off guard. "But I'm right aren't I?" JJ asked. Reid nodded once. "Yes." He paused and tapped his fingers on the handle of his mug. "You've been counting?" he asked. JJ shrugged and gave him a sly smile. "Maybe, maybe not." She turned back to her computer and Reid watched her type for a few moments. Then the elevator chimed behind them and Reid looked over his shoulder. Morgan stepped out of the elevator and automatically caught Reid's eye.

Both men smiled and Morgan made his way through the cubicles to JJ's desk. "Hey Pretty Boy," he greeted. "Mornin' JJ."

"Good morning Morgan," Reid replied. JJ glanced up briefly from her monitor to flash Morgan a quick grin. "Mornin' Morgan." She returned to her screen and Morgan took the opportunity to wrap an arm loosely around Reid's waist. "We still set for tonight?" he asked. Reid nodded. "Yeah," he replied simply, mentally kicking himself for not coming up with anything more intelligent. Morgan laughed quietly. "Alright. So I'll pick you up at your place around seven? Then we can head over to that restaurant down the street-"

"Il Fornello's. Yeah, sounds good." Reid smiled and Morgan smiled back. "Great," he replied. He pulled his arm from around the younger agent's slim body and smiled at him and JJ. "I'll see you guys in a bit, Hotch is waiting for me."

"Better get going then, don't want to keep the boss man waiting," JJ replied. Reid could merely nod and answer with a simple: "See you around." As Morgan walked off Reid groaned and ran a hand through his hair. JJ laughed. "Get all tongue tied when he's around?" Reid sighed. "It's so… weird. It never happens with anyone else, just him. I can never seem to think about what to say."

"If you can't speak when he's simply talking, I can't imagine what you're going to say when he kisses you."

Reid froze. His gaze slowly drifted over to his coworker. "Kiss me? Morgan's going to kiss me? Did he tell you that?" JJ laughed quietly and turned in her chair, leaning an elbow on the desk. "Considering who Morgan is, I'm guessing he's going by tradition. And in tradition you don't kiss until the third date. It gives you enough time to figure out whether or not you actually like the person. And since tonight is the third date…" She let her sentence trail off, knowing that the genius' brain wasn't too scattered so as to not figure out the rest of what she was going to say.

Reid nodded and stared into the caramel depths of his coffee. "You seem to know everything except for dating tips," JJ commented. Reid sighed and closed his eyes. Once again he had no answer.

That night Reid paced nervously across his apartment. He was only partially dressed, his shirt only half buttoned up with his tie still lying across his bed, and Morgan was due to arrive in less than ten minutes. Reid knew better than to hope that he would be late. With a deep sigh his lowered himself onto his bed and put his head in his hands. He tried to figure out a statistic, something about how many out of how many relationships worked out, but all logic had been blown out his open window.

"It's all JJ's fault," he muttered childishly. "If she hadn't brought up-" Suddenly there was a knock at the door and Reid jumped to his feet. He checked his clock. 6:57. He slowly made his way over to his door, buttoning up his shirt the rest of the way as he did, and peered through the peep hole. He already knew that it was Morgan but he was always careful. And sure enough it was. The dark skinned agent was standing with one hand resting against the wall next to the door, the other arm tucked behind his back holding something. Reid's heart jumped in his chest as he slowly opened the door. "Hey Pretty Boy," Morgan greeted, smiling widely. He extended his arm out and presented a bouquet of flowers to a startled Reid. Morgan laughed quietly at the look of shock on the younger agent's face.

"Th-Thanks," Reid stammered, taking the flowers and stepping back into his apartment. "Um, I'm not ready. Just give me a minute?" Morgan nodded, the smile still on his face, and stepped into the apartment. "No problem, take as much time as you need. We're in no rush." Reid gave him a small smile as he disappeared back into his room. He closed the door to his bedroom and bit his lip. He half expected Morgan to kiss him when he walked in the door, but maybe he was waiting until Reid was ready to go out… The young genius shook his head and laid the bouquet on his dresser, but not before smelling them. They smelt good, a little bit like the older agent in his living room and little bit like, well, flowers.

Sighing he snatched up the tie from his bed and stood in front of his mirror. His hands fumbled with the silk as he tried to tie it. Eight tries later he was about to toss the accessory back into his closet but stopped when he heard a knock at his bedroom door. "Hey, it's me. You alright?" Reid swallowed and nodded, momentarily losing his mind and forgetting that Morgan couldn't see him. He cleared his throat once before speaking. "Yeah, I'm ok. Just um, just another minute!" A pause. "May I come in?" Reid froze but then walked over to the door. He wasn't sure what he was doing as he opened the door. He watched Morgan's eyes move from Reid's face to the black tie in his slightly shaking hand. Morgan laughed quietly and held his hand out for the material. "Want some help with that?" he asked, his tone light.

Reid looked from the other agent's hand to the tie in his own. He laughed nervously. "Uh yeah, that would be nice thanks."

Morgan gently took the tie from his hand and Reid turned so his back was to the other male. Morgan laid the accessory around Reid's neck and the genius watched as Morgan secured the tie. "There you go kid," Morgan said, and Reid was surprised at how close the voice was to his ear. He stepped back a bit, turning to smile at his date. "Ready to go then?" Morgan asked. Reid nodded. "Yeah, let's go. It's Friday and Il Fornello's gets filled up pretty fast." Morgan chuckled and held out a hand. "Then we'd better get going." Reid stepped forward and Morgan lightly wrapped an arm around his waist, guiding him forward. But then he stopped.

"You sure you're ok Reid? You're shaking-"

"I'm fine Morgan," Reid replied kindly.

"'Cause if you're not feeling up to going out we could stay here. Or I could just leave-"

"No," Reid replied, too quickly in his opinion. "I mean no, I'm fine, really. Let's go." He tried to give Morgan a reassuring smile, and he guessed from the worried look on the other male's face that it didn't work.

Halfway into their date Reid was feeling more confident with how the night was going, or maybe that was a result of the glass of wine that he held in his hand. He laughed at a joke Morgan had slipped into the conversation and flashed him a smile. Alright, maybe it wasn't the wine; he was genuinely feeling extremely confident and happy. JJ's comment from earlier wasn't phasing him because if it happened it happened and if it didn't it didn't. Reid was content either way, just being out with the guy he liked.

A lull in the conversation allowed them both to eat a little, but even that didn't stop either male from glancing at the other. "Want to try some?" Morgan asked, gesturing to his plate. Reid glanced from the raised fork to its owner. "Did you know that sharing food reinforces ethical and cultural values? It's also a good way of bonding with people. The potential loss of sharing meals can result in an increased rate of anxiety and negative psychological well-being-" He stopped rambling as Morgan rested the tip of his fork against Reid's bottom lip. "Then eat," he said, laughing quietly and giving him a playful smile.

Reid went to lick his lips, a nervous habit, and his tongue touched against the food. Forcing back a sigh he gently slid the pasta off the utensil. "Was that so hard?" Morgan joked. Reid just rolled his eyes, but couldn't suppress the smile that flitted across his features.

The pair pushed open the door to the restaurant, laughing, with Morgan's arm hooked loosely around Spencer's waist. "So how you doing?" he asked. Spencer looked at him, beaming, and raised an eyebrow. "You have to ask?" he replied. Morgan shook his head and pushed a piece of hair out of the younger man's eyes. "Just checking," he answered. Spencer leaned against him a bit as they walked up the street towards his apartment. "You want to come inside and watch a movie or something?" he asked. Morgan nodded. "That would be cool, yeah." Reid leaned his head against Morgan's shoulder as they continued up the street and Morgan was more than happy to let him. Once they reached the genius' apartment he let them in and flicked on the lights. "Make yourself at home," he said. "It's not much but… " He shrugged and Morgan gave him a soft smile, finishing his sentence: "It's home."

The two locked gazes for a moment before Reid broke the contact, a faint blush appearing on his cheeks. He quickly turned away, taking his time in opening his closet and hanging his jacket up inside. "What do you want to watch?" Morgan called from the living room.

"It doesn't matter, you pick," Reid replied, closing the door. He ran a hand through his hair as he walked into the living room, where Morgan was on one knee in front of Reid's small TV and movie cabinet. "I don't have a lot, sorry," the genius apologized. Morgan shook his head. "It's no problem, it makes sense you don't have a lot." Reid nodded and stood slightly behind him. "We could just turn on the TV and see if something's on there?" Reid suggested. Morgan stood up and turned, and neither of them realized before how close they were. As Morgan righted himself they found themselves close enough that Reid could faintly smell Morgan's cologne.

The older agent smiled and ran a finger down the back of Reid's hand. "Sounds good to me kid." Reid picked up the remote from the top of the TV set and went to sit on the couch next to his date. Morgan settled himself against one of the sides of the sofa, and as Reid lowered himself next to him Morgan caught his hand, gentling pulling him towards him. Reid found himself sitting right up beside the older agent and Morgan wrapped an arm around Spencer's waist and he leaned back, his head resting on Morgan's shoulder. His eyes slowly drifted closed, even though he wasn't tired. He just felt so peaceful lying against the other male. Morgan fingers brushed over the hand that was holding the remote and Spencer dropped it, letting it crash to the floor. He winced and moved to sit up but Morgan held him back.

"Leave it," he said quietly. "It's fine." Reid tilted his head back to look into Morgan deep chocolate eyes, and he couldn't help but smile again. The two were silent for a moment, before Morgan's eyes met and he looked away. "You look tired, I should go," Morgan said softly, shifting as he was about to get up. Reflexively Spencer's hand grabbed onto the arm that was wrapped around him as his whole body tensed. "You don't have to go. I'm not tired." Morgan raised an eyebrow. "Spencer…" Reid shook his head. "I'm fine, really." He sat up a bit, trying to prove to the other agent that he wasn't sleepy. In all truthfulness he hadn't been, not until he had rested against Morgan. Something about him was just so comforting…

"You're tired Reid I can see it. This week has been hectic-" Reid shook his head. "Really Morgan I'm fine." To the genius' dismay Morgan stood up and Spencer let his hand fall from Morgan's arm. "Morgan…" Reid bit his lip and Morgan knelt down in front of him. "I'll see you tomorrow 'k?" Reid sighed and stood up, and Morgan rose as well. "I had fun tonight," Spencer said, looking at the floor. When Morgan spoke Reid could hear the smile in his words: "I did too. Maybe the next time you could come to my place, I'm not that bad a cook." Spencer nodded slowly and Morgan rested a finger under the younger agent's chin, tilting his head up to look at him.

"Why do you look so sad?" Morgan asked, confusion and worry flashing in his eyes.

"I don't-"

"You do Reid, I can tell." Spencer sighed and gently lowered Morgan's hand. "I'm not sad," he mumbled childishly. Both of them were silent for a long moment, then Morgan spoke. "Look at me for a second Reid." Reid was confused as he lifted his head, training his eyes on Morgan's which were full of something… full of-

Reid wasn't able to determine the emotion in his partner's eyes before Morgan's lips were on his. Reid melted into them, wrapping his arms around the other male's neck. Morgan gently slid his hands down Reid's sides, making the genius shiver, and rested his hands on Spencer's hips. When Morgan smoothly pulled back Reid bit his lip, looking into those lovely chocolate eyes. "I know JJ told you I was going to do that," Morgan said quietly. "Did it make a difference, being forewarned?"

Reid shook his head, a smile playing on his soft lips. "No matter what I don't think I could have prepared myself." For some reason this made Morgan laugh quietly. "So there was no statistic you found that could have helped you?" Reid shook his head and Morgan kissed his forehead. "You're adorable," he whispered against his skin. Spencer leaned his head against Morgan's chest, feeling as though he could stay there forever.

* * *

_**AN: **_**This is for a Fortune Cookie Friday prompt from Chit Chat on Author's Corner. It's a bit long overdue but I was having problems ending it. Thank you Gothgirlreid for editing this! (and for editing Chocolate, Sugar, and Chamagne)**


End file.
